from the New Hope Christian Fellowship Worship Services and conversations

The New Hope Christian Fellowship church-planters have tried to develop a culture of participation and engaging every mind and heart in the worship service. So one practice they have added after the sermon is a time of question and answer and sharing and response. Following are some of the things that were on people's hearts and things they were struggling with.

During the question and answer time, we try to only see what the Bible says, and never give a pastor's idea without showing the Scriptural support. If you ever have a chance to lead one of these question and answer times when people can ask any question, it makes you really see how much you need to know your Bible.

• Q: Can you lose your salvation? Click here for a discussion of the answer.
• Q: What happens to a person's spirit after he dies? A: click here
• Q: Do you have any advice for foreigners on how to share the Gospel with Taiwanese? Any recommended tracts? A: here.
• Q: How does God draw sinners if He can't look at sin?
• Q: Does the Spirit then only work in the elect and not at all in the non-elect?
• Q: How should Christians look at the second coming? Should it be our only motivation for holy living?
• What do you think about the book "The Purpose-Driven Life"? A: There are some good points in it. For a critique, read, purposeverses.com

• A lot of my friends are reading "The DaVinci Code"; how can I answer them? A: The attempt to discredit the Bible's testimony is nothing new. For good answers to this book, there are two books: 1. "Breaking the DaVinci Code" by Darrell L. Brock, Ph.D. He is a Protestant Christian New Testament Scholar and does a good job at speaking to the heart of the issues related to Dan Brown's attacks on the Bible. He interacts with all the scholarly sources and shows that history does not agree with Dan Brown's fiction. This book was recently translated into Chinese by Triumph Publications. A second book deals with the art history issues very well: The DaVinci Hoax. It is from a Roman Catholic perspective. And there is a website by Professor Robert Baldwin who wrote an article, "Debunking the Da Vinci Code".

  Rev. Joel Linton, a TCPP missionary gave a talk at a Taipei Toastmasters Club in Taipei on August 29. To view the lecture, first download the web seminar software JoinNet and then log on to the toastmaster site and play the recording.

• Does the Bible agree with the current practice in Taiwan and other places of "missionary" dating, if you cannot find a partner who is a Christian? A: Biblical principles forbid missionary dating.

• What verses in the Bible tell us not to date or marry non-Christians if we are Christians?
  A: 1 Corinthians 7:39; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Ezra 9, Ezra 10, Nehemiah 13:23-27

  The reason the OT references are relevant is that the New Testament writers applied OT Covenant as expanded and representing the church, itself: See 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 Paul is specifically applying the OT concept of "coming out from and being separate from the world as God's people" that God spoke to the Israelites in the OT to the NT church.

• Where in the Bible does it say that you should not take part in Communion if you have some unresolved ongoing unrepented sin in your life. I've been taught that as well in my church back in my home country, but have never looked it up ... do you have a Bible reference?

  A: In essence, it is asking someone to govern themselves, to examine themselves.... and not approach the table if they themselves know that they are not repenting of something, and not really right with the Lord on it. Suspension from the Lord's Supper is a discipline tool that the elders would use... (different from and precursor to excommunication) but in the same way, someone should not treat the Lord's Supper lightly. NOW.... if that person, at that very moment, feels convicted and really repentant... then it is good for them to take communion and be strengthened in their faith, knowing that Jesus died for even that sin and hard heart that the person had.

  1 Corinthians 11:18-22 Deal with ongoing unrepentant unforgiveness and feuding. That is similar to Jesus' statement regarding the temple about if you are offering something at the altar, and you remember that you have an unreconciled relationship, go and try to make it right and then come back. (Matthew 5:23-25). Communion is done as a community. We do not have private communion: only as a community... we all belong to the same body... and God calls us to not be hypocritical... how can we partake together supposedly in union if we are really feuding?

  1 Corinthians 11:27-32 There is a call to judge ourselves. And people in the Corinthian church not taking it rightly were judged by God because they did not judge themselves and so were weak and ill and some had died. These were Christians whom God was judging. So the implication is that they were taking communion in an unworthy manner and profaning it... by their ongoing unrepentant sin. So the implication is that even Christians need to take the time to look at their life, and use the time leading up to communion to consider our life before God and consider if we need to confess things to God and deal with them. And remember, part of repentance is saying "I believe, help me in my unbelief." If you are crying out to God and saying, I have a hard heart, take it away... that is part of repentance.

  It does not mean that Christians have to be perfect or have their act together before being able to take communion. The Lord's Supper, like listening to a sermon, is a means of grace -- and a blessing to sinners.

  This is why we announce communion the week before and tell people to take time and examine themselves and prepare their hearts.

  Our church does not do this, but... The Old Scottish churches actually gave tokens... if you did not have a token, then you were not admitted to communion. Whether you want to go that far or not, the Scots are to be commended for their taking 1 Corinthians 11 seriously.

  When you take it seriously, the Lord's Supper, is 1, a reminder of what Christ did. 2, a means of grace like a sermon that feeds and strengthens you spiritually, 3. an opportunity to be in unity with your fellow believers, 4, a good, a very good opportunity for you to take a moment from your busy life and "judge yourself" and deal with unresolved issues, 5. the definitive way, together with Baptism, to distinguish publicly God's people from the world.

  If we put to use communion the way God designed it, we would really keep up our walk and grow and be strengthened.

  It is a blessed time to set our own houses in order, and have a fresh start before the Lord and break free of sinful habits. And it is a time for us to just be brought to repentance at that moment when we proclaim Christ's death in our behalf.

  Hope this helps.

  There are probably other relevant passages in the Scripture that bear upon the subject, but I'll leave it a that.

• How can killing ever be justified in the light of the commandment, "Do not murder."?

• When is divorce okay? What about remarriage?

• How do you "listen" when you pray?

• What will Christians face when Jesus comes back to judge the world? A free pass? A little scolding? Penance?

• How does God's sovereignty fit with man's free will?

• How do I make decisions?

• How do you define God's will? What is the difference between God's desire, His precepts, and His decrees?

• What does "submit" mean?

• Does the Bible permit women to speak in the church? (What does the passage in 1 Timothy 2 mean?)

• For how long does "Children obey your parents." apply?

• What is this "leave and cleave" thing? Does that mean I have to move out of mom and dad's place?

• If my husband hits me, should I stick around and try to save his soul, or should I leave the marriage?

• What if my husband is a "moron"? Do I still have to submit to him?

• In the Old Testament, why did Elisha curse the children and they died?

• Do aliens exist?

• What should Christians think about the environment?
• and many more.... we'll be posting some of the answers the pastors gave on these subjects...

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